Harry McGougan has joined Mike Golding as Technical Team Manager/Boat Captain. He joins the team after working alongside Alex Thomson for the past two editions of the Vendee Globe. He will immediately set to work on the minor refit that is planned for Ecover 3 in Gosport. A few small modifications will be made and she will be given a new paint job before being relaunched. The replacement mast, which is currently stored at JMV in Cherbourg will arrive in Gosport on the 5th March. Meanwhile Ecover 3’s carbon keel has just arrived at JMV and is currently being surveyed. It did not actually fail, but there are cracks appearing on the keel head which need to be explored fully. On completion of the work the yacht will be launched and fully sail tested to ensure that rig, keel and all modifications are in order.

"The wind is more on the beam now, but we're still slamming. For four or five days now, we've really been hammering into the waves, making this stretch particularly tricky. I'm looking forward to getting away from this area, as it's hard on the boat and tough for me mentally. At least we're moving, so I mustn't grumble too much. When I came out of the Doldrums, I was faced with a northerly wind, so had to head off westwards and now the wind has veered, I'm still heading into the wind as I come around. I'm waiting for the next lot of weather charts to see how I can deal with the Azores. The North Atlantic is not looking very simple as there's a high over the Bay of Biscay and another one to my north, which will offer lighter winds and there's another one arriving from the west quite some way north. So I'm going to have to weave my way between these systems by the look of things. I've never seen so many high pressure areas in the North Atlantic. My shore team is already getting ready, and if I manage to work my way around the Azores high, I'm expecting to finish around 14th-15th March. For the moment, I'm trying not to think about it too much and just making sure the boat is sailing well. I'm thinking a lot too about the Foundation and all the useful info we can get from this floating lab. I think that so far, this mission has gone well."
Raphaël Dinelli (Fondation Océan Vital) on today's radio session
 

The first episode of a five part series on the Vendee Globe will be shown on the British TV channel, Channel 4 tomorrow morning at 07h30 GMT. The series concentrates on the British entrants and includes footage filmed by the sailors themselves, as well as the highlights of the race. Tomorrow's programme deals with the preparations by the British skippers. From next week, the programme takes up a regular slot on Channel Four on Saturday mornings at 07h30 GMT.

Based on this morning's weather charts and positions, Météo France has come up with the following ETAs for the next three boats.

- Great American III: from 12h00 GMT on Thursday 5th March to 00h00 on Saturday 7th March
- Fondation Océan Vital: between 8th and 10th March
- Nauticsport-Kapsch: between 12th and 14th March
 

You can view all the pictures of Steve White's finish in the media section (photos) or by clicking here.

"I crossed the Equator at 01:29 GMT. Now I have to sail upwind in the NE'ly trade winds. There are around 1700 miles to sail to reach an imaginary waypoint to the west of the Azores, to get around the Azores high. After that it will be straight for Les Sables d'Olonne."

Norbert Sedlacek (Nauticsport-Kapsch) in his daily message